Chapter 89: Visiting the Father-in-Law

Two days after Shunno Sukagawa was arrested, Shengzai was eating breakfast brought by Suguha at home, watching the news on TV, and couldn’t help but click his tongue.

Yuuki Shōzō’s speed in acting was far faster than he’d imagined—he’d barely left when Yuuki Shōzō had already set a trap for Sukagawa.

For the past two days, news headlines had been dominated by SAO topics; after two years of fading from public memory, SAO reappeared in newspapers and broadcasts.

The day before yesterday, SAO players were freed; these past two days, the main Fuzeren of ALO had re-imprisoned players’ consciousnesses and conducted forbidden experiments treating them as less than human.

The fury of the families of the three hundred rescued players was unimaginable.

The fate of Kōba Akira, who had imprisoned SAO players’ consciousnesses, remained unknown; the rescued players and their families had nowhere to vent their rage.

Then Sukagawa, of all people, walked straight into the gun barrel.

Already, many families of the imprisoned players had jointly petitioned higher authorities demanding severe punishment for Sukagawa.

After all, his actions had crossed everyone's bottom line, making him utterly unworthy of mercy.

Because of Sukagawa’s actions, even ALO and RECT Corporation had suffered some fallout.

ALO was ordered to restructure; to prevent similar incidents in the future, the government established a dedicated department to eradicate such crimes.

Yuuki Shōzō, originally CEO of RECT Corporation, had done nothing wrong in this matter—in fact, he had exposed Sukagawa, the rotten apple.

But since Sukagawa had been personally promoted and heavily relied upon by Yuuki Shōzō, it was only natural that Yuuki took responsibility and resigned; now he was merely one of RECT’s directors.

“That Sukagawa really deserves to die! It’s a shame ALO was such a good game, only to be dragged down by this.”

Watching the morning news, Suguha, wiping the table beside him, couldn’t help but comment.

Because Shengzai and Kirito had been trapped in SAO, Suguha—who had never cared much for games—had begun playing fully immersive games over the past two years.

ALO was the game she had been playing consistently, and she’d even become a high-level player; she never expected something like this to happen.

“Sukagawa’s sins have little to do with ALO itself—ALO’s player count and reputation have always been solid; it’ll probably relaunch soon.”

Hearing Shengzai’s words, Suguha standing nearby couldn’t help but look eagerly forward: “So when ALO relaunches, will you play it too, Shengzai-nii?”

ALO was a game set in an elf kingdom, with only one major race: “Elf,” further subdivided by traits into Wind Elves, Fire Elves, Dark Elves, and Beast Elves.

Suguha wanted Shengzai to play ALO with her for her own little ulterior motive.

After all, playing together meant spending more time together daily—and ALO had a couple system…

“We’ll see how things go. Today I still have to visit Kirito.”

“I have something to do tonight too—I probably won’t be back for dinner.”

Two days had passed since liberation from SAO; as a close friend, it would be unthinkable not to visit Kirito.

So yesterday, Shengzai and Suguha had agreed to visit Kirito at the hospital together today.

As for why he wouldn’t return for dinner, it was because Yuuki Shōzō had invited him to the Yuuki household today.

More precisely, it was the entire Yuuki family inviting Shengzai—on one hand, to personally thank him for his role in the Sukagawa and Asuna incidents.

On the other hand, his wife Yuuki Kyōko was deeply curious about her daughter’s friend.

Yuuki Kyōko was a university professor; her rigid personality had made her extremely strict with her daughter, Asuna.

Although she had learned from her husband that Shengzai was Asuna’s savior, she still hadn’t accepted him.

Given the precedent of Sukagawa, Kyōko believed nothing should be judged by appearances alone.

She was grateful Shengzai had saved her daughter, but gratitude could be shown in many ways—it didn’t have to…

In short, whether he was worthy of being Asuna’s friend would be decided solely by her, Yuuki Kyōko.

Yuuki Shōzō wanted desperately to tell his wife about Shengzai’s exceptional qualities, but he feared Shengzai might be offended, so he chose to remain silent.

Yet Kyōko, who had been repeatedly warned by her husband not to treat Shengzai like an ordinary child, was thoroughly baffled by his unusual behavior.

Shengzai didn’t refuse the Yuuki family’s invitation; after all, visiting Kirito without visiting Asuna would be hard to justify.

Besides, he had promised Asuna he’d visit her in the real world—if he pretended not to hear, “Mochi-Asuna” would truly get angry.

Upon arriving at the Yuuki household, Shengzai was greeted personally by Yuuki Shōzō and Kyōko; Asuna, though eagerly anticipating his visit, flatly refused to let him enter her room.

The reason was simple: like Kirito and most SAO players, two years of bedridden confinement had left them emaciated from malnutrition.

Kirito being male was one thing, but Asuna, a woman—and a beautiful one at that—had every right not to let Shengzai see her pitiful appearance.

Still, though she refused to let him in, she wanted to hear his voice, so she had him talk to her outside her room—and they chatted for hours until Asuna finally fell asleep from exhaustion.

As a university professor, Yuuki Kyōko was deeply displeased by Asuna’s impolite behavior.

Having raised her daughter with elite education since childhood, she believed such conduct was a disgrace to their family’s reputation.

Just as she was about to step in and stop Asuna’s rudeness, her husband Yuuki Shōzō stopped her.

Frankly, seeing this towering figure, Shengzai, patiently sit outside his daughter’s room for hours just to talk to her, moved Yuuki Shōzō deeply.

Previously, when Shengzai said he was friends with his daughter, Yuuki Shōzō had assumed they were just ordinary friends.

But now it was clear: this so-called “friend” was far closer than he’d imagined!

“Kyōko, what do you think of Asuna’s friend?”

At her husband’s sudden question, Kyōko at first didn’t react, merely voicing her impression: “He seems like a well-mannered child, with impeccable outward manners—I just don’t know what his family does… Wait, are you implying…?”

“Since the Sukagawa incident, I’ve lost confidence in my own judgment.”

“So let Asuna decide for herself.”

(End of Chapter)